Controlling access to specific files via <location>

Question

Hello,

A) We can also control access to specific files using <location> tags. Why aren’t <location> elements contained inside <system.web> tag, but are instead nested directly inside <configuration> element?

B) I realize <system.web> element is used for Asp.Net settings, but why does <location> also contain <system.web>? Is it so that it specifies settings specified inside <system.web> are applied only for when file is included in Asp.Net application?

If so, then that would suggest that <location> element could be used for non-Asp.Net applications also?

thanx

Answer 1

The thing is that <system.web> is not the only element that affects ASP.NET applications. <location> can override some of the defaults for certain pages. Here's a sample from MSDN:

<configuration>
    <location path="UploadPage.aspx">
        <httpRuntime maxRequestLength="128"/>
    </location>
</configuration>

Answer 2

guessing wildly

was almost certainly meant to be bound up with Code Access Security, which can use URLs as a membership condition for a code group. I don't think this was fully expressed or implemented in .NET, but it means the same schema could have been used for non-ASP.NET scenarios.